MRDC to pay K15mil in royalty to clans in Central

By GYNNIE KERO THE four plant site villages in Central – Boera, Porebada, Papa and Lealea – will this week be paid up to a total of K15 million in royalty from the PNG LNG project, an official says. Department of Petroleum and Energy acting secretary Kepsey Puiye said the Mineral Resources Development Company (MRDC) would make the payment. He said Petroleum and Energy Minister Fabian Pok was expected to be making a formal announcement on the payment of the royalty today. Responding to The National yesterday on how much each village would get, Puiye said: “The total royalty entitled for LNG Plant landowners is K15 million but 40 per cent (K6 million) will be paid as per Section 176 of the Oil and Gas Act. “From the balance of 60 per cent, 30 per cent will be kept for future generations and 30 per cent is to be used for community impact social projects.” In expectation of the payment today, the 98 clans of the four villages had opened their accounts with the Bank South Pacific last December. They also elected their directors in preparation for the benefit payments. In March this year, then Petroleum and Energy Minister Nixon Duban assured the different segments of LNG owners from the upstream to plant site and pipeline segments of the Government’s intention to ensure all landowners were paid.